Speedy Jon Berti has made the long unpleasant walk from second to the New Hampshire dugout. And with help from Raines, the Blue Jays roving outfield and base-running instructor, he’s trying to cut down on his long walks.

The Berti numbers: 23 steals at Vancouver in 2011, 34 at Lansing and Dunedin, 56 at Dunedin to lead the Florida State league and 38 this season for 151 career steals in 201 chances, a 75.1% success rate. He sits second in the Eastern League, 11 behind Richmond’s Kelby Tomlinson.

“I haven’t played on the same team with Anthony Gose much, but Jon is probably the best base stealer I’ve ever had as a teammate,” said Jays reliever Aaron Sanchez, a minor-league teammate. “He steals, puts pressure on the defence and squares up some balls.”

At Bowling Green, Berti went through “little spurts,” saying getting thrown out “takes a toll, there is a fear.”

An EL all-star this year and one of the Jays prospects headed to the Arizona Fall League in a few months, the second baseman remembers being thrown out against Erie and how lessons from Raines helped.

“I thought I picked something up the way the pitcher came set,” said Berti from Manchester, N.H., “He had two strikes on the hitter, one out. I thought he’d go breaking ball. He threw a fastball, the hitter swung through it and the catcher threw me out.

“I didn’t lose confidence. You have to be more objective: ‘Did I get a good jump?’ In Erie I thought I saw breaking ball. When you do it that way, it takes the fear out of it.”

Raines has helped Berti’s learning and developing, big and little.

“Something small like taking a proper lead, being consistent with your lead, when not to extend, getting the proper jump and learning a pitcher’s tendencies,” said Berti. “It’s not about how to become faster, it’s about not to allowing fear to enter your mind and reading the right pitch.”

His best day in baseball? Whether it was Little League in Troy, Mich., getting a scholarship from Bowling Green coach Danny Schmitz or the minors?

“It was my first game in Vancouver, getting the chance to put on a uniform and being part of a professional team for the first time,” Berti said.

And how did he do in the game? “Didn’t start Game 1, didn’t play, but was 1-for-3 the next night.”

A favourite of all the coaches, managers and rovers from Day 1, Berti grew up watching Chipper Jones and Ken Griffey, but one player he always admired was shortstop David Eckstein.

“He was smaller than me,” the 5-foot-10 Berti said of Eckstein, who played at 5-foot-6. “He always played the game hard.”

Charlie Wilson and Doug Davis, who run the Blue Jays farm system, asked Berti to go to play winter ball along with outfielder Michael Crouse, infielder Shane Optiz and catcher Jack Murphy in Australia with the Canberra Cavalry this past off-season.

“I never thought I’d get the opportunity to travel to Australia let alone play there,” said Berti. “Canberra is the capital of the country, so that was pretty cool. It was an awesome experience.”

And since Canberra won the previous season two weeks into the season the Cavalry headed to the Asia Series in Taiwan.

Outfielder Brad Glenn, who was up with the Jays for six games earlier this season, is at double-A (along with outfielder Melky Mesa who was with the New York Yankees for 16 games in 2012-13).

“It was fun watching him, I’ve asked him what playing in the big leagues was like,” said Berti. “I try to pick his brain, he has more experience than I do. We ask them both questions, but it’s not like Bull Durham where (Glenn) is sitting at the back of the bus playing a guitar.”